continuing factions, 1540-47

• The last years of Haz’s reign were dominated by an intensification of the rivalry between the conservative and reform factions
• Haz’s decision not to appoint a chief minister to follow TW and TC encouraged this development, encouraged by Haz’s increasingly poor health
• This has led historians to question whether Haz was actually in control over events
• Some have downgraded Haz’s importance to that of a sickly bystander
• It is difficult to know precisely how influential Haz was between the fall of TC and his death in 1547
• Some decisions towards the end of his life were clearly taken without his consent, while others show that Haz was still capable of wrong-footing his advisers
• He succeeded in maintaining the authority of the Crown and achieved success in France
• Wherever the balance lies, it is important to understand that political development was driven by the intensity of factionalism in court during this period
• What makes factionalism intriguing, especially in the 1540s, is that H was fully aware of the manoeuvrings of his courtiers and even encouraged them
• To some extent, this was sheer egotism - the enjoyment of watching noblemen and counsellors fighting for royal attention 
• It also prevented one view of politics from dominating and encouraged discussion of important matters such as religious change
• This dimension means that it’s difficult to discount completely the political importance of Haz, even in the last years of his reign, as the manipulator of courtly politics
• 1540 - the conservative counsellors were able to feel self-satisfied and confident
• They had recently won three key victories
• The Six Articles Act had enshrined in law their belief that religious innovation should be limited
• They had recently seen their greatest enemy, TC, fall from power
• They had increased their access to Haz through his new wife, KH (niece of DON
• their success was to be short-lived
• The first blow was the loss of KH
• Although Haz was besotted with her (called her his ‘rose without a thorn’), there was a significant age difference between them - she was 19 and he was 49
• It was quickly obvious to all but Haz that she had other admirers act court and in 1541, Haz was finally presented with the extensive evidence of her unfaithfulness
• His response was fury
• The men implicated in her adultery were executed and KH was beheaded in Feb 1542
• Although the DON proclaimed his outrage at what his niece had done to Haz, the incident did serious damage to the conservative group
• When the conservatives tried to break the friendship of Haz and Cranmer in 1543 by suggesting that the archbishop was dabbling in Protestant heresy
• Haz not only rejected these allegations against his friend, but put Cranmer in charge of the investigation into the claims
• Haz also married Catherine Parr, a recently widowed lady, in July 1543
• This was an important decision since CP was close to the Seymour family and was a Prot sympathiser
• She gathered scholars around her at court and allowed them to manage the education of Haz’s youngest children, Ed and Liz
• Although the conservative faction struck out at her in 1546 by accusing members of her household of heresy, Haz supported CP
• This was to prove important as it ensured that Ed and Liz were firmly in favour of Prot reforms, as opposed to the Catholic views of Mary